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History of Ulome
The continent of Ulome is the largest landmass in the world of Renaissance, and by folklore was the first to form during the end of the primordial age. It is home to the two most cursed sites in the world, the cataclysm fens, where (according to legend) the aboleth's worldender stone made its impact with the Old World, and the fallen lands, a mysterious spreading corruption whose containment dominates global geopolitics. The continent is bordered to the south by the Great Archipelago, and to the east by the continent of Sinnia; much of the subterranean Underdark, the last remnant of the Old World, and can be most easily accessed from Ulome. Generally heavily forested, the climate of the continent ranges from a heavily mountainous arctic region to the tropical south-west coast. In modernity, the level of economic, magical, and technological development can vary greatly from region to region. The Age of Antiquity At the dawn of the age of antiquity Ulome was divided between the thousands of warring tribes of the various races that the gods had returned to the world, and the wild and unnatural aberrations that predated even the primordial age. The earliest recorded history of Renaissance is of an elvish-human alliance's development into a continent-spanning empire over just a few centuries, in an arrangement that would endure for centuries. The Old Empire brought into its fold the many and varied races of the surface, and even extended into the vast subterranean Underdark, establishing a peace with the drow and druegar that generally endures to this day. The Old Empire's acquisition of much of the southern archipelago proved ruinous to it. The circumstances of the Fall of the Empire are unknown, but history records that it was both abrupt and completely unexpected. The capital city and its surrounding countryside fell almost immediately; historians record that the corruption spread rapidly, and had cut a broad swath across the whole of the continent within decades, and that the Old Empire exhausted its manpower and economic resources attempting in vain to stem the spread of the fallen lands, which were further depleted by repeated succession crises for the throne and rebellion, especially from draconic separatists in the archipelago. The final emperor divided the eastern and western halves of the empire, giving one to his elvish son and his half-elvish daughter, and the age of antiquity ended. The Age of Modernity For much of the current age the two kingdoms have co-existed peacefully, although the old global geopolitical dominance was never restored. The mountains and wastelands to the north-east of the fallen lands became, while not tainted, wild and barbaric, dominated by the once-domesticated orcs and ogres along with various brigands. The littlefolk and the dwarves, having lost no territory to the spreading corruption, had become relatively more powerful compared to their human and elvish overlords, and soon became rebellious. In the fourth century after the Fall of the Empire both kingdoms suffered simultaneous succession crises, and, like their imperial predecessor, simultaneous rebellion from their oppressed subjects and an expansion of the fallen lands. The continent's political cohesion failed completely, and in the modern day many regions are divided between dozens or even hundreds of small independent polities. The Qoin and the Celestial Empires, from the Great Archipelago and Sinnia respectively, took advantage of this situation to establish tributary relationships with some of these nations. When the adventurers of South March began their journey the two empires had not expanded further into Ulome in centuries, given their aversion to destabilizing the Marches that guarded the fallen lands. Although open war has been rare in recent years, the atmosphere between nations is generally quite tense, and the fallen lands are once more beginning to spread. The Lands of Ulome Elvish Kingdoms of Uluria, Rathenald, and Nimuzuk -- The three kingdoms formed much more peacefully out of the fall of the old Kingdom of the Elves than their human counterparts. Relations between the drow of Nimuzuk and the surface elves of Uluria and Rathenald are quite tense. Bream -- The Duke of Bream rules over a wide and sparsely populated land south of the cataclysm fens. Mostly human and elvish; there are gillmen in the surrounding seas, and some of them swear allegiance to the Duke of Bream. They have many more powerful allies, who wish to prop them up against their powerful and ambitious neighbor, Great Nulloc. The Grand Duchy of Great Nulloc -- The arrogant and wealthy House of Nulloc has risen rapidly from obscurity since the fall of the human kingdom, acquiring much of the wealthiest lands of the old elvish and human kingdoms. Many find their alliance with the drow of Nimuzuk disquieting. Free Cities -- The cities of the mineral and fish-rich northwest are racially diverse and generally ruled as republics, although suffrage to non-landowners is exceedingly rare. Wealthy and peaceful, it is often held in disdain by outsiders, as voters often inadequately fund the Marches that afford them their way of life. Golog-Mur -- "Golog" is a term in arctic-gnomish meaning "mixed," and refers both to the realm where the various littlefolk live, and to the various mixed-race combinations that have arisen from them; the daughter of a halfling and a gnome is a golog, as is the son of a gnome and a cloud goblin. The population is mostly comprised of gnomes and halflings, with the daft but generally benevolent cloud goblins also having a substantial presence in the far north. It is the only nation that has not established an independent March on its fallen lands border, instead choosing to make its defense the duty of all nobles in Golog-Mur. Dwarves -- The Dwarves live in clan-ruled mountain holds. Wealthy and martially renowned, they have provided many Marcher Lords to the world. Many of the oldest Dwarves still habor resentment against humans and elves for their previous conquests. Kars -- The First Cleric of Kars is an immortal of unknown race who established his domain during the chaos of the Twin Succession Crisis. The state religion, which Kars heads, places great emphasis on war gods, and his contribution of men to the Marches greatly exceeds those of other nations. Mariner's Guild -- Although they have a presence everywhere there's a coastline on Ulome, the Mariner's Guild controls the trade cities of the northern coast, and conduct much of the trade between Golog-Mur and the Dwarves, and the outside world, as overland trade is made nearly impossibly by mountains and the fallen lands. Wild Lands -- These lands are poor for agriculture and infested by orcs, ogres, giants, and other ill-mannered but not unnatural creatures. Human Nations -- There are hundreds of them, and they are always. Always. Always fighting.